


Oathkeeper

by draconianApathy



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: AIGHT HERES THE WARNINGS CHAT, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Crying, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Read the note at the beginning for more insight onto the divergency, Theres one mentioned but it's a spoiler if i tell who, Yelling, rating is teen and up for the physical fight, the rating is teen and up for the fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29066631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draconianApathy/pseuds/draconianApathy
Summary: There was nothing more to do. They weren’t going to sit and watch any longer, it was going to end. Once and for all.✾« Let’s give us seven days. » Bad had stood from the table he, Ant, Puffy and Sam had been talking at. « Seven days of preparation, to get anything we need. »
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Oathkeeper

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya peeps, I started writing this with a goal in mind: what if I gave an end to the Blood vines arc? I started it when the arc had been left off at the Egg being covered in obsidian, so there's that, also I changed a little thing about canon lives which wouldn't make sense canonically, so be mindful.  
> Scenes in cursive are flashbacks.  
> ANYWHO I'll give cookies to whoever is able to spot Kingdom Hearts references, other than that, read the warnings and enjoy the angst~  
> (Thank you to @max-is-tired on tumblr for bearing with my ideas and sending me some of theirs ♥)

❝ _You're scaring us and all of us,_

_Some of us love you._

_Achilles, it's not much but there's proof._ _❞_

If Puffy hadn’t been walking down the wooden path in long paces, feeling every muscle in her body move as she stared at her next goal, she knew she would’ve been fidgeting all along.

The nervousness that had been building in her stomach started rising with every passing second, reaching her heart and lungs, just a moment away from a slightly increased heartbeat and breathing; today was the day, as she had been reminding herself ever since the night before.

Really, she had never been one to betray friends, or something of the like, but, after all the discussions that had been made as of late, after seeing some of her friends getting hurt in different ways … there was nothing more to do.

They weren’t going to sit and watch any longer, it was going to end.

Once and for all.

She paced down the last few steps and was met with none other than Antfrost, whose tail immediately straightened at the sight of his friend.

He waved, not as excitedly as he would have on normal days. « Sam said he will be meeting us at the Church to gear up together. »

« Okay, » she looked around, arms crossed, as if she expected anything else to happen despite the beckoning of her friend, urging them both towards the last component of their party.

« Is Bad not coming? » her confused tone said it all: he was going to have to protect himself from the brainwashing and infection of the Egg during today’s arduous task, wasn’t he?

Ant frowned at that. « I know he isn’t right now, but he’s probably just distracting Skeppy as we get there. »

« So he  _will_ get the protective suits at some point, right? »

« Huh, » she didn’t like the uncertainty in his voice. « I’m sure he has it all planned out for himself. Just a different way from our own. »

« He better be. » she commented, checking off a few points of her mental list as they made their way toward the Church.

After all, what was going to be the point of their mission if he was going to get hurt?

_« Let’s give us seven days. » Bad had stood from the table he, Ant, Puffy and Sam had been talking at. « Seven days of preparation, to get anything we need. We will always make sure one of us stays with Skeppy, so he doesn’t suspect anything. »_

They found Sam standing right in front of the building, nodding at both of them as they got closer.

« Get the ones on the left. » they gestured, moving towards three sets of hazmat suits. « Those are the completely untouched ones so far, we don’t want to risk losing their protective power while we’re in the middle of our adventure. » they chuckled, trying to lighten up the concerned and insecure expressions on the other two.

« Right, » Puffy tried the gear on a couple of times to make sure it would sit comfortably, before putting it away. « So, these work against the Egg’s mind control? »

« Yeah. Bad and I had put them on a couple of weeks ago before taking off some of the obsidian covering it. I … still felt some eerie vibes coming off of it, as I had before, but neither of us were affected. »

Ant perked up at that. « That’s right, I joined a while after Sam did and I was completely fine around it, so this is bound to work. »

« Well, my friends. » Puffy gave a hesitant look out of the entrance, checking whether there had been any movements other than the three of them. « I guess we’re doing this. » she turned towards them, a smug smile of confidence finally worn on her face. « You ready? »

_« Here’s the plan I thought of. » Sam had looked around his peers, checking for their total attention and focus, before continuing. He gestured towards Bad. « You can distract Skeppy, meanwhile the three of us are going to break every single remaining block of the Egg once and for all. »_

_« How were the experiments turning out, Ant? »_

_« The vines and the egg itself were made of the same substance, I’m a hundred percent sure nothing will happen if we destroy it. There’s one key detail, though: we must throw it all in lava as soon as we finish collecting the blocks. »_

_Puffy had rested her chin on her hands, elbows on the table. « What about this “red Skeppy”? Will he turn back to normal? »_

_« Well … » Bad had sighed. « That is the only thing we won’t know for sure how it will turn out. But, surely, you can count on me to keep him away from where you’ll be working. »_

_Everyone else nodded, nothing else to add onto their plans apart from when and where to meet up and a signal to give in case everything went downhill._

_He wasn’t sure whether they heard it when Bad whispered under his breath._

_« I do hope we get him back, though. »_

« Wait! What are you doing?! »

That had been around the third time Bad had to pull Skeppy away from his new home’s door. Some part of him was convinced the other felt some kind of connection that made him feel like there was something wrong, something  _off_ , a signal of danger that had been trying to reach him as Sam, Puffy and Ant ventured towards the Egg in fully enchanted gear.

« What did I tell you? »

« I don’t know. » Skeppy’s dull voice always managed to hit a sour spot. It didn’t feel like his friend was there at all, at times. « What did you tell me? »

Bad sighed, not in withdrawal, but knowing that it was going to be a long day.

Oh, he had no idea.

« There’s going to be an abundance of mobs out, today. I think someone’s testing out something, so they told everyone to stay inside not to get into any danger. » he tried, for probably the fourth time.

Skeppy reached for the handle again. « I can take them. »

« No, you cannot. » his friend moved away his arm before he could do anything. « We need to stay inside, okay? Who knows, there could be fifty creepers blowing up all around you. You may not take all the damage, but it would destroy everything around here. You don’t want that, do you? »

He shrugged. « I don’t really care. »

As he turned back to the door yet again, he felt Bad’s hand tugging at his shirt.

« I’d feel better if we both stayed here. » Bad tilted his head to the side. « Could you do that for me? »

They exchanged a silent look that felt more like a staring contest, before Skeppy retired back in his room.

Well, that could have gone worse than that, right?

That also … could have been going better, in general.

Why did it have to hurt so much anytime they interacted?

He was about to give up in doing anything interesting to pass up the time, already sitting in the middle of the room until it was all over, when Skeppy disrupted the silence once again; he had opened the door leading to his room with a slightly perplexed expression on his face.

« Where’s Puffy? »

_Ah, of course._

« I don’t know, she’s probably taking cover somewhere else. »

« This is her home. » he stated, quite obviously.

« Yeah. » Bad conceded, pretending to be pensive. « I suppose she didn’t make it here in time for the curfew. » his friend looked somewhat troubled about that. « I’m here, though! Aren’t you happy I’m here? »

For a moment, he was sure he had seen him hesitate, yet nothing else happened other than the usual stare down, before disappearing behind the door without a word.

Maybe he had been holding onto some kind of hope that the real Skeppy was still there when he convinced himself he was going to actually agree with him.

Bad let his face fall in his hands as he exhaled deeply, trying to shake off whatever unpleasant thought loomed over him.

And really, he didn’t mean to fall asleep.

He had jolted awake, rather shaken from something in his oneiric reality he had already forgotten: he blinked multiple times, the darkness adjusting to his vision, as the memories that had become mushier in his sleeping state slowly regained their original form.

The plan. The mission was taking place. Had he already missed it? There was no way that was possible, they would’ve come check on Skeppy, they would’ve woken him up.

Skeppy. Right.

He looked to his left and stared at the opened door of his friend’s room in horror.

_Right._

Not even a minute passed before he heard it.

That heart-wrenching sound, possibly as close to a banshee’s screeching, echoing through the ambience, a disastrous shatter of one’s mind transmuted as the most tremendous shrieking.

Bad hurried to his feet and ran to the entrance, checking for the direction from where the deafening cacophony had come from: and then he heard it again, again and again, until his head hurt, and he unsheathed his sword instinctively.

It was as though he could follow the aura of both rage and despair that was coming off from behind a couple of blocks.

That was where he found Skeppy, hunched over himself, hands gripping tight at his hair, visibly trembling.

Bad let go of his weapon and crouched down, about to call his name and ask what was wrong, when he could barely brush the other’s arm that he heard him lash out immediately.

« Don’t touch me! »

He watched for a second as Skeppy sat back up, panic rising in his chest over the unknown of his future actions.

Was that time for the signal? What had he even been screaming about?

_Why wouldn’t he just talk to him?_

« I told you it’s dangerous here! » Bad hurried at his friend’s side.

Skeppy scoffed. « Oh, is it now? » it was then that the other understood his pretense had fallen, with no one else to fool anymore. « I need to see  _it_ . »

« It- Where are you going? »

« Go away. »

It took a pretended aimless wandering and Skeppy trying to make the other lose track of himself, unanswered questions and furor bubbling up at the same time, for them to eventually reach the other party.

More than half of the obsidian layer around the Egg had already been taken off; Puffy’s eyes widened as the duo made itself present in the room. Why hadn’t the signal gone off? Why did neither of the two wear the proper gear?

It was when they heard them yell at each other that the trio hesitated to continue on their task.

« What are you doing?! » Skeppy took some steps forward, scanning the place for any damage: he could see part of the Egg had already been broken, causing his head pounding to become even more intense with fury.

He made to sprint.

« Skeppy, don’t- »

And then he turned to face his friend.

Had he ever really been his friend?

He drew his sword and pointed it at him. «  _You lied_ to me! »

« I was just trying to protect you! » Bad had raised his hands in front of his chest.

«  _How_ are  _you_ supposed to protect me, when you  _knew_ this was happening! » he turned quickly towards the Egg, pointing at it. «  _This_ is the reason I can’t trust  _any_ of you. » he surged forward, weapon steadier. « You’re just trying to get rid of me. »

In the fraction of an instant, he had hit Bad enough to make him lose balance so to gain some seconds in advantage and rush to the Egg instead, trying to fight away the others from harming it; with every single block they destroyed, the bigger was the pain he felt and the grander his rage flew.

« Bad! » Puffy called behind her as soon as she saw her friend hardly able to fight against the Egg’s will seeping into his mind. She threw her helmet at him, then wore a determined expression when she saw him question her decision.

She adjusted the pickaxe in her hand and shared a look with Ant.

He looked at his side, where Sam had been fending off Skeppy’s attacks while Bad came to aid them, then back at where her helmet used to be. « Are you sure you can handle it? »

Surely, he was surprised when he heard her chuckle and smirk, breaking blocks with even more strength than before.

« For them? Absolutely. »

In a matter of minutes, Sam was back at working on destroying the Egg, while Bad had been able to distance Skeppy from it, still incapable of making the fight stop. There were multiple sword clashes with no result, nothing other than Skeppy gearing up with full armor, while Bad still refused to protect himself with anything other than keeping Puffy’s helmet to block out any unwanted brainwashing.

« How many times do I have to tell you, » Skeppy gained some ground. « That you have to leave me alone? »

« You know I would never. » Bad blocked another attack. « Not when you’re like this. »

The other’s attacks grew more tenacious. « Like  _what_ ? I am  _just_ me and it sounds to me like you’re not accepting it. »

That was the first time he saw Bad hesitate, taking advantage of the upper hand to strike an actual blow on him: he watched as he retreated a few steps behind himself, sucking in a breath from the pain, then looked back at up at him.

« You wouldn’t do this if you were “just you”. » he regained his stance, shakier than his thoughts swirling in his head in that moment.

« Well, » Skeppy switched to his axe, hitting Bad’s arm with the handle so that his sword would clatter to the floor with a clear and loud repetitious clang. « It seems like you’re mistaken. »

Sam and Puffy intercepted each other’s worried glance, while Ant refused to look behind himself: they were still too far behind with their task, if they came to aid Bad, there was a chance they were never going to make it in time.

The three of them gritted their teeth and tried their best to ignore the painful fighting.

Bad tried to steady his breathing, staring at what was left of his friend’s bitter expression, something that didn’t leave any space for who he remembered he used to be, almost nudging him towards withdrawal.

He knew putting his hands up again was useless, when Skeppy had picked up his sword and thrown it way too far for him to reach in time.

He knew it was totally futile to whisper a “Please”, one that was broken and on the verge of tears, like his voice had been fragile glass shattered down on purpose.

And it did hurt. It did hurt when Skeppy shook his head ever so lightly, his eyes narrowed, one corner of his lips curved upward. It hurt when he purposefully interpreted his request to his own advantage, a resignation instead of the last burst of strength as he were gripping at a lifesaver.

« Gladly. » he said, his voice as heavy as someone stepping on that same glass that had already been shattered.

The axe swung and everything turned black.

_One down._

It was also the annoyance he wore once Bad came back in his field of vision a few seconds after he had killed him, picking up his helmet and weapons. It was the cruelty with which he didn’t hesitate to strike as heavily as before, not letting the other regain his pace, throwing him right back into their fight.

Quite frankly, Bad felt like an Icarus launching himself towards the Sun, instead of mindlessly flying delicately under it, a conscious choice that would certainly lead to his annihilation instead of a merciless death under an offended deity.

It honestly made him furious.

Why did it have to happen? Why now? Why Skeppy, of all people? Why, in every given situation around that particular circumstance, he had to be the one to suffer most out of them all?

He had always done nothing but been kind, what malevolent deities decided to look down on him and laugh at his face, curse him by taking away the most important person in the world and mock him by bringing him back, his original consciousness completely lost?

There had to be some kind of reason, and yet there was none.

It was just the Fates’ work, the twisting and twirling of his life’s string, but oh, how long before they would decide to cut it? Were they having fun, ripping it apart with their bare hands instead?

Bad could barely dodge any of Skeppy’s attacks, only getting lucky by the other’s need to win that blinded his skills to the point of seeming more out of shape than usual.

« You know what? » he suddenly snapped out of those destructive thoughts. « I don’t believe you. » he fended off the blades that were thrown at him again, seeing him falter once he started talking. « I’m not mistaken, I know who the  _real_ Skeppy is. »

For a moment, Skeppy seemed to put his weapon down.

« Do you? » he chuckled, low and dark. « You really think lying to yourself is going to make you feel better? It won't. »

Bad shoved the weapon on the rocky pavement in frustration. « Quit telling me that! I know you’re playing with my head as much as you’re playing with his, and I am sick of it! » he stepped forward, as though nothing scared him anymore. « No matter how many times you kill me, I’ll never stop trying to bring him back! »

« Then die trying! »

He took another step towards him, expression firm and determined. « If that’s what it takes,  _I will._ »

Skeppy stared at him, taking it as a challenge. « Checkmate. » he whispered, as he stabbed him right between his ribs, no regrets as he fell to the ground to his dismay, disappearing right after.

_Two._

« Stop! »

Sam and Puffy’s breaths hitched as they turned to see Antfrost approaching Skeppy.

She reached for him. « Ant- »

« Why are you hurting him?! »

« How can  _you_ say that when you’re the ones hurting  _me_ in the first place? » Skeppy placed a hand on his chest to emphasize his words.

Both looked ready to fight, words unspoken still understood.

« Ant. » Sam beckoned, putting a hand on his shoulder, trying to ground him away from his anger.

The moment Bad reappeared, the trio went back to work, although with a sour taste in their mouths, the bitterness of their impotence.

Skeppy turned to face him.

Maybe one last time.

« Aren’t you tired? »

Bad let out a short laugh. « I don’t know anything about giving up. » he announced, maneuvering the hilt of his sword swiftly.

He had eyed the others, noticing they were almost done with their job, the Egg almost completely gone. He had to buy them time, whatever it took out of him.

« Remember when we used to spar together to learn how to fight better? »

« I don’t care about the past. » surely this pretended Skeppy had always been quick to respond.

Bad smiled, despite all. Not that he had anything else to lose. « This kind of reminds me of back then. »

« Consider this a lesson, then. » Skeppy quickly raised his axe and flung it, only for it to meet Bad’s weapon, so that the collision made them both retreat of a few feet.

With every clash in their fight, yet another block of the Egg disappeared, as it was passed around and thrown into lava right after; if it had an effect on Skeppy, it surely wouldn’t have shown. Rather, it seemed liked all the indirect inflicted pain only aided in fueling the ever-growing acrimony that paired up well with his current color.

He looked like the personification of wrath itself: the closer you got, the more you could see the fire burning in his irises.

By then, it was only Bad to carry both of their aching, as he kept their memories safe in hopes of a breakthrough. How much more could he have resisted in his denial state before the realization he couldn’t have possibly made it by himself would strike him?

Or maybe … he had already given up and sunk deep into the knowledge.

Maybe that was why in a matter of seconds he was already on the ground, arms bruised by the friction with the stone, looking up at someone he now failed to recognize.

« I see you haven’t learnt a thing. »

Looking back at it, there wouldn’t have been a single way to make it painless. So maybe … maybe sitting back and letting go …

He needed to help his friends.

Was Skeppy his friend, right then?

Bad looked over to Sam, Ant and Puffy, about to head over the last remaining blocks.

_So close._

« Don’t pretend like you actually care. » Skeppy scanned his expression, pointing his trident at him. « You’ve made it clear from the start. » was that his voice breaking? « One thing different about me and suddenly you were whining about wanting the “other” back. You know what? I’m done feeling like I should be replaced because of others’ liking. » he pushed the weapon towards his chest. « Which means I’m done with you. »

He couldn’t really explain it, but as the tips of the trident tore apart his skin, Bad could’ve sworn relief had filled his mind, it was as though the other had stabbed right through all of the hurt that had been pooling inside, leaving some kind of exit for it, a way out so he could finally,  _finally_ put a stop to that endless doleful sufferance.

He wished to forget any of that ever happened, he wished they could have erased the emotional scars the moment he came into the deities’ sight, he strove to get the burden off of his back so that, the next time he returned, they could’ve left him alone.

So that they couldn’t have hurt him anymore.

Yet they only teased him, they released him of his struggles, only to put him right back in the middle of the chaos, right in under the eyes of the beast, right between the harpies’ claws; he’d been Prometheus and losing everything that had mattered for him was his eagle, tearing him apart day and night until it was satisfied with the result.

A ghastly portrait of endurance, brought to an end in the worst way possible.

_No one can save you now._

« You know I love you. »

_What a useless little anchor, isn’t it?_

« Oh, no. » Sam watched as their pickaxe disappeared in their hands. « No. » he looked over to Puffy and Ant, still working in opposite sides of the room, way too far to reach in time.  _Just one block, one more block._ His eyes fell on Bad and Skeppy and widened in realization. « No, no, no, no- » he turned back to the last red remain of the Egg and took a deep breath, before protecting their hand with a piece of armor and trying to break it with every last piece of strength remaining in him.

Skeppy lifted his trident again, the first rivulets of blood started flowing.

« You wouldn’t have done this if you did. »

And it had looked poetic, really.

The way Sam had broken the last piece that granted their win just as the Fates decided to rip the string in little pieces, both of them burning their treasure so that neither could’ve ever come back.

_And three._

_« See? » Bad held up the bucket full of water towards his friend. « Wasn’t so bad, was it? »_

_The other kid gasped and inspected the colorful fish swimming quietly inside it as though that had been the most wonderful event he’d ever witnessed. « That was actually really, really cool. »_

_« Thank you! »_

_« Do you think we’ll be ever able to use a trident? »_

_Bad giggled in all his young innocence. « Who said we need one? » he pulled up his sleeves and started observing the fishes’ behavior in the lake right in front of them._

_Skeppy did the same, a determined smile on his face._

_They both intercepted a carp that had stopped swimming right near them._

_« One. »_

_« Two. »_

_« Three! » they both launched themselves forward to catch it, only that Skeppy actually dived in, jumping into the water by mistake with a flip. The moment he resurfaced, the two newly found friends had stared at each other for a second with a blank expression, Bad had snorted right after and subsequently both had burst into the most genuine and limpid laughter._

_It wasn’t until a few minutes later that they had finally calmed down, lying in the grass while gazing peacefully at the sky, a sort of comfortable boredom washing over them._

_« Hey, could you imagine if, one day, we got to have our own land? » Skeppy had perked up after zoning out on clouds shapes._

_« Huh, that would be nice. We could have … mh, we could have a whole mansion! »_

_« Yeah! And we could get some pets, we could actually be the richest people in the world! »_

_Bad had laughed. « I don’t hate the idea. »_

_Skeppy’s expression turned pensive. « What could we call it? The entire property. »_

_The other kid seemed to think about it for a bit, before gasping and hitting his palm with a fist. « We could call it the Badlands! »_

_« Wow, that sounds very self-centered. » Skeppy joked, gaining a “hey, that’s not true!” from his friend._

_« Doesn’t it sound super cool, though? »_

_He chuckled again, resting his head behind his arms. « Yeah. » he agreed, fantasy already traveling far. « I guess you’re right. »_

Skeppy wasn’t sure if the scream he heard was his or someone else’s, he was sure of one thing only, on the other hand: a white vastity. His body was burning so much that it actually felt cold, his eyes squeezed shut and everything else blocked away from his perception.

The next thing he knew, he was kneeling down over nothing.

He blinked a few times, intaking the deafening silence, as three figures walked slowly towards him, so slowly that he believed they had been dragging their feet on the pavement instead.

He looked to his right.

The sight of blood on his trident worked like a trigger.

He let the weapon fall like he had just touched a sizzling object, letting go of his pyretic madness altogether.

 _What have you done?_ _What have you done?_ _What have you done?_

Where was he? Why didn’t he come back yet? Did he get lost?

He was joined soon by the others, who sat down before him.

Puffy was seemingly the only one able to talk without bursting into tears. « Skeppy …? »

« We have- » he looked at his hands and saw blue. « We have t- The red is gone, see? We have to show Bad, right? Where- »

« He died three times, Skeppy. » her voice cracked towards the end of the sentence, to which she raised a hand to cover her mouth.

No, he didn’t.  _Yes, he did._ He didn’t, right?

He couldn’t be possibly dead. He would’ve never hurt him, not to that point.

Right?

When Ant broke down, all hope seemed to be lost, kind of like a lightning bolt striking down right on a tree and setting it on fire.

Skeppy hadn’t realized how long he had been holding his breath until he choked on a sob and felt his lungs hurt; it all came back to him, the Egg controlling him, the fight, the way he had tried to scream his way out of the hold the infection had on him, how he yelled at it not to hurt his best friend.

He looked down, exhaling sharply as the pavement got dotted with tears.

_He didn’t even have anything to mourn on._

Not a single ounce left, something to hold on to so he could remember, remember, remember.

Like he could even forget what he’d just done.

How could he live with that? How could he keep on bearing the burden of such a loss? How could he look at himself and pretend nothing was wrong about him? How would others even be able to face him? His mind raced as no solution could come up.

How did heroes rise up again after the worst-case scenarios?

Everything was way too loud in their quiet aching, so loud that they did not hear steps echoing through the room.

« Oh! »

The four looked up simultaneously, ripped away from their crying: if the voice had come from afar and all of them were sitting right in front of each other, then …

They stood up at once and were met with a figure standing right at the entrance of the room, making their way towards were the egg used to be, coming closer and closer, enough to notice the utter resemblance with Bad they had.

Still … not quite.

« This place looks a  _little_ messy. » they chuckled. « I wonder why. »

And sounded like  _him_ .

« Bad …? »

He turned. « Oh, hey! What, are you guys having a party without me? » he walked over them quickly and was met only with the widest eyes.

Like they had seen a ghost.

« What- » Sam wiped at his face as the others processed the scene. « What happened to you? »

Bad tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows. « What do you mean? »

« You … » they stared at him one second: his skin was no longer black, but white, while his outfit had been replaced with white clothing and arctic colored stripes at the edges. His eyes, on the other hand, were as dark as coal. « You just look different. »

« Oh, that? » he waved his hand as if to brush off the topic. « Yeah, that doesn’t matter. I feel great! »

« Great? » Puffy’s voice trembled a little.

« Mhm! » he looked over to his best friend and beamed. « Hey Skeppy! »

How could he face _him_?

Before Skeppy could say anything, he walked towards him to embrace him in a tight hug, unable to approach him in any other way.

Three tries was all it took him to realize.

Somehow, every time he tried to wrap his arms around his chest, they just seemed to go through his friend's body; was that all a fever dream?

« Oh, yeah. » Bad laughed it off. « You can't exactly hug ghosts, can you? »

The other four's breathing seemed to stall at once, all of their eyes wider than ever before. Puffy raised a hand towards Bad, uncertain. « You're … you're a ghost? »

« 'Course I am, didn't it click when you saw my new style? » how could he smile through all of this?

« Hey, uhm … what do you remember last? »

He wore the most imperceptible frown as his faulty memories tried to piece themselves back together, humming as though he had just woken out from a complete blackout. « We were hanging out, like we always do. » he started walking towards the entrance, leaving the others behind in disbelief.

He made a comment about how they had gone overboard with the decorations upon seeing the obsidian decontamination room, before motioning for them to follow him and disappearing up the stairs.

« Guys- »

« What in the _fresh hell_? »

« Guys he doesn't remember the Egg … he doesn't remember- »

« He doesn't remember I killed him. »

As silence fell into the room, Ant took the opportunity to excuse himself and keep Bad company, buying them some time to elaborate and process the information just obtained.

« It wasn't _you_ who did that, Skeppy. You know that. » Puffy tried, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Yet, his expression and motives didn't seem to change. « I still blame myself. » then, barely above a whisper. « I will always blame myself. »

Sam and Puffy exchanged an apprehensive look. « Holding a grudge against yourself is not the way to work through this. It won't help you or Bad, either, it will only inconvenience both of you. »

« Exactly. You know if you hurt, he does too. »

Sam nodded. « And there is no reason for you to pin it against yourself. You cannot hold yourself accountable for something your body was being used for. »

Skeppy didn't seem convinced by that answer either, he shook his head and narrowed his eyes. « You think I don't remember fighting you? Or Ant yelling at me? »

« I _assure_ you Ant knows that wasn't you he was talking to! He was just in emotional distress, but he doesn't hold anything against you. He was angry the Egg was making you do all that against your will. »

The three of them sat on the concrete, too emotionally and physically tired for that conversation still unloading.

Sam put a hand on his shoulder. « And I only kept it from making you erase our progress, I didn't fight you because I hated you, dude. »

Puffy had sat in front of him and bent her head to search for his eyes. « You were fighting alongside us ever since. We know this. We cannot even _imagine_ how awful it must've been to witness everything and being impotent at the same time. »

It was when he saw her compassionate smile devoid of aggression, the way Sam's hand rubbed his upper back in comfort, it was then that he allowed himself to break down the defensive wall and let the emotions run free, as well as the tears that had welled up in his eyes minutes prior.

« You know how Bad always carefully goes over what we should do in general, how he plans things. How he's powerful and skilled, he wouldn't have let you fight him without it being a conscious choice. » Sam's voice tried to sound as soft as possible. « He's always known how to fend for himself, which means he wasn't out of control of the situation when he started losing. He knew what he was doing. »

« You didn't hurt him. He let the mind-control make you hurt him and you, too, know that is entirely different. » Puffy offered her hands out. « Okay? »

He hesitated before taking them and murmuring an “okay” back, at which the other two took the opportunity to embrace him in a comforting hug.

It surely wasn't easy to not address anything that happened for the sake of Bad's spectral integrity: who knew what would've happened if they told him the truth immediately? Would they have made his state of mind worse? What if they damaged him beyond measure and lost him for good? There was no reason for them to risk it.

Most times they made sure Bad was never alone, especially walking around before they could have removed all the remaining wandering vines or talking to people who had no clue what had happened to him.

There was one day in particular where the five of them had been hanging out together, catching up on different events throughout the weeks, as the tragedy of L'manburg, how Dream had been imprisoned, the prison duty itself that Sam had been carrying on his shoulders as well as a construction site opened with Tommy, where Puffy seldom visited.

One could've said everything was going okay, Skeppy was even letting himself heal, despite how difficult it still was to keep everything from Bad.

Eventually, the only real and effective method to shake off the guilty feelings would've been hearing him say he was free of fault.

Until then …

« You know, I've always thought your ghost form has just reversed colors from your, well, alive one. » Ant had been lying on the beach right at the feet of the mansion, still able to see the top of the prison from his position. « Yet it doesn't click how red became blue. Shouldn't it have been, like, green or something similar? » _the color of healing?_

« Why do you think? »

« I mean, if you put the primary colors together and you take away red, you will get green out of blue and yellow. Isn't that how it works? »

« Huh. » Puffy examined the colors as well as Bad tilted his head in confusion. « Hey, it kinda looks like Skeppy's skin color, actually. »

« Oh. » Skeppy stretched out his arms to compare the two very similar tones.

Sam nodded. « Oh, they _do_ look very much alike. »

« Right? »

« That's weird. »

« Maybe it's because Alive-me liked Skeppy so much that it affected me as well! » Bad laughed it off and pretended he didn't see his best friend flinch visibly right beside him.

Ant bit the inside of his mouth as he exchanged a concerned look with Puffy. « Oh Sam, didn't you let someone into the prison for visits already? How did it go? »

« Ah, technically there was a small difficulty with the lava, but one can never be too sure of how much you need around the actual cage with genius hazards like Dream. » they sighed. « But it did work splendidly, both for the visitor and the- »

« Could you guys leave us alone for a second? » Skeppy stared at Puffy, Ant and Sam with a trembling determination and, as much as the trio did _not_ want to leave them alone to have that one particular conversation, they couldn't decide for him and chose instead to leave them some space for themselves.

« Is everything okay? »

Bad's concern, somehow, made him feel even worse. Yet, he had to just rip it off his mind like a band-aid.

He looked him in the eyes and, just like that …

« I was the one who killed you. »

… he did it.

And he couldn't stop. Not one second to look at Bad's expression, to look at the happy-go-lucky mask fall, the one he had been wearing up until that moment ever since he had walked down the decontamination room's stairs, the moment he had promised himself he would've wiped his own memories forcefully if he had to do so. If _that_ was going to stop the hurt, he would've pretended.

« I took all of your three lives, all of them. I tried to just _stop_ , but I _swear_ to you it wasn't me, I wasn't in my right mind- »

« Skeppy. » Bad's voice sounded firm, but not enough to stop the other from spilling out words and confessions he had veiled behind shame.

« I couldn't seem to act on my own free will not matter how much I tried, how much I tried to scream, but the voice in my head, the one controlling me, it was so much louder, way too much, and my brain decided to follow it instead of _me_ \- »

« Hey. »

« And it hurt, it hurt so bad, you have no idea. I never gave up, I was- I was just never strong enough and I'm sorry because I know you would've probably expected better of me, especially as your best friend, but maybe I'm not fit for it, maybe- maybe I should just- »

« Skeppy, listen to me. It's okay. »

« _How_ is any of that okay? What if I do it again? »

Bad took a deep breath and joined his hands together. « It's okay because I know. I already know what happened. »

Skeppy narrowed his eyes and blinked multiple times before he was able to speak again. « What? »

« I didn't forget a single thing, Skeppy. » his tone grew more exasperated, he then held his head in his hands. « No matter how I pushed the thoughts away, before and after dying, every single detail of everything that happened while I was alive remained engraved in my memory like a curse I had been trying to get rid of for centuries. » he wore a sad smile as he looked back at his friend. « It's like they keep mocking me even in death. »

« You … you lied to us? »

He shook his head, fixing his gaze on the sand instead. « I didn't lie to  _you_ . I lied to myself. » he explained. « I tried, you know? I tried to forget so I could feel better, so that all of you could also get a burden off your chests and never think about that topic again. But I failed, of course I failed. »

Seeing the persistent ache in him, Skeppy couldn't really hold it against him for trying so hard to make it all better in the wrong way. Rather, he was reminded of Sam and Puffy's words.

« Bad, one of your fatal flaws is that you tend to go through deep denial states. But you know that repression isn't good right? It's not the way to get through a bad time and nor is holding a grudge against yourself. » he played with the sand next to him. « That's something I was probably going to do if they didn't stop me. I  _still_ don't feel good about it, I probably won't be for a while. But if I were to apply what you're doing to yourself, I would just drive myself insane. And you, as well. I know you don't want to do this as much as I don't want to take you down with me in a negative spiral that would only drive us apart. »

There was a moment of silence as Bad intook all of that. « I guess … I guess you're right on that. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I really thought it was the best idea. »

« It's fine, it's not like I wouldn't have tried for the wrong choices either. » a beat, and then. « Wait, how do you not hate me right now? »

« Hate you? How could I, I am  _happy_ that we got rid of that monstrous thing. Plus, it's not like we can't hang out like before, right? Here we are having a beach party with all of our friends- »

Skeppy shook his head in exasperation, still wearing a small smile on his face. « This isn't a beach party, Bad. »

« We're having a  _beach party_ and there is nothing you can do about it. »

« Oh my god. »

Hearing laughter coming from them, the others decided to join back and were filled in on the situation.

And, of course, they carried on with their beach party.

That was the first night they could spend in peace.

Well, almost.

Skeppy had paced down a blackstone flooring in the heart of the night, his steps echoing through the massive construction.

He was met with familiar eyes staring him down behind a creeper mask. « Are you sure you want to do this? »

Skeppy said nothing and stared at the lava under the bridge before him before he started crossing it; after the bridge retracted, he was let in the cell in the middle of that incandescent pool.

He looked straight ahead of himself, a serious determination in his eyes.

« Hello. » he said, eyeing the silhouette of a man sitting miserably at the back of the cell. « Long time no see, Dream. »

❝ _Hurt and grieve, but don't suffer alone._

_Engage with the pain as a motive._

_Today of all days, see:_

_How the most dangerous thing is to love._

_How you will heal, and you'll rise above._ _❞_

**Author's Note:**

> If you got til here thank you so much for reading! And hey hey, who knows why Skeppy went to Dream, huh?  
> Is this foreshadowing for a sequel? Who knows, you tell me! Would you like me to continue this plot or leave it at this for an open finale for you to daydream about? Leave a comment below~ (totally not fishing for comments here-)  
> Okay in all seriousness, I wrote this in like WEEKS cause I kept getting distracted so thank you so much for reading! I'm sending thanks in advice to whoever will comment, bookmark, sub and give kudos!  
> Until next time, for more angst  
> Love you all, take care!


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